News in Brief: A National Roundup

N.Y.C. Board Extends Schools Chancellor's Term

The New York City board of education voted unanimously last week to
extend Chancellor Harold O. Levy's contract until the end of the
calendar year.

The May 30 vote echoed an agreement earlier in the day between Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg and Mr. Levy to keep the chancellor on board until
state legislators approve any governance changes for the city's
schools.

Mr. Bloomberg had hoped to postpone a decision on the chancellorship
until he secured the power to appoint someone to that post. But with no
such law yet approved, a decision had to be made on Mr. Levy's
contract, which was designed to extend one more year automatically if
the board took no action on it by June 1.

The Republican mayor is seeking the power to appoint the chancellor
and a majority of the city school board, and wants that body to have
only advisory powers. He also is seeking the dissolution of the
district's 32 community school boards.

Lawmakers in Albany have yet to reach complete agreement with the
mayor on what powers he will have.

—Catherine Gewertz

State-Appointed Board Takes Over N.Y. District

New York state education officials have appointed a five-member
board to run a struggling Long Island school district.

The move completes the state takeover of the Roosevelt Union Free
School District, whose long-standing academic and fiscal problems
prompted New York lawmakers to pass a measure allowing the state to
manage the district.

The new board members, appointed by the state board of regents on
May 22, replace an elected school board that state Commissioner of
Education Richard P. Mills removed on May 8. ("N.Y. District Braces for State
Takeover," May 15, 2002.)

Edward L. McCormick, a retired IBM executive and a past president of
the New York State School Boards Association, was named the new interim
chairman.

Laval S. Wilson, a former superintendent of state-controlled schools
in Paterson, N.J., also was appointed to the board. The remaining
members are Roosevelt residents and parents of students in the
district.

—John Gehring

Chicago Officials Probe Student's Drowning Death

Four members of the staff at a Chicago elementary school were
reassigned last week after a student in their care drowned on a field
trip.

Derrick Spencer, 14, an 8th grader at Goldblatt Elementary School,
apparently drowned in the pool at the Quality Inn-Cincinnati Hotel in
Evendale, Ohio. The students were on a field trip to the Kings Island
amusement park in Cincinnati.

Twenty-five students and five chaperones, including the school's
assistant principal, two teachers, a counselor, and an adult volunteer,
made the trip. The staff members have been reassigned with pay during
the school system's investigation of the incident, which is expected to
conclude this week.

The Hamilton County, Ohio, prosecutor's office also has launched an
investigation, according to Chicago school officials.

—Ann Bradley

Baltimore Teachers' Union Chief Loses Presidency to Rival

The president of the Baltimore Teachers Union has lost her job to a
rival she beat only two years ago in a tough campaign.

Sharon Y. Blake was replaced by Marietta A. English as the head of
the American Federation of Teachers affiliate on May 23, said Carla M.
Tyler, a union spokeswoman. Ms. Blake, a former high school social
studies teacher, garnered 380 votes to Ms. English's 598 votes in the
May election. Ms. English teaches elementary school.

Three other members also ran for the office, but received only a
handful of votes, Ms. Tyler said. Some 1,200 of the union's 7,500
members cast ballots.

Ms. English captured the presidency by pledging to fight to get rid
of the district's mandatory student portfolios, Ms. Tyler said.

—Julie Blair

N.J. Teacher's Affair With Boy Yields No Jail Sentence

A judge's refusal to sentence a New Jersey teacher to prison for
having sex with a 13-year-old student has prompted prosecutors to
appeal the sentence in a bid to ensure that the teacher serves
time.

Pamela Diehl-Moore, 43, pleaded guilty in January to sexual assault
for what she said was a six-month affair that began in 1999, after the
boy had completed 7th grade. She agreed to serve three years behind
bars.

But when she came before Bergen County, N.J., Superior Court Judge
Bruce A. Gaeta for sentencing on May 22, he refused to impose jail
time. He said he saw no sign of psychological harm to the boy, and
speculated that the relationship might have enabled him to satisfy his
sexual needs.

The judge also noted that Ms. Diehl-Moore, who suffers from
depression, could receive better medical and psychological treatment
outside prison.

Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said he filed a notice of
appeal with the superior court's appellate division on May 24 because
he believes the judge's decision violates a state law requiring prison
time for a teacher who engages in sex with a student.

—Catherine Gewertz

Miami-Dade County Board Cuts Employees' Pay for Two Days

A week after the Miami-Dade County, Fla., school board approved a
two-day emergency pay cut for district employees, the board's
chairwoman proposed that they be repaid if there is enough money left
at the end of the fiscal year.

Perla Tabares Hantman wrote in a memo that the district should repay
the almost 38,000 teachers and other employees affected by the pay cut
if the system's $2.4 billion budget doesn't go into the red by June
30.

On May 22, the board voted 6-3 for the two-day pay reduction, which
saves the district $12.8 million. The austerity measure came after the
state cut $81.2 million in funding for the 370,000-student system.

Before the pay cut, the school district had imposed a hiring freeze
and a 25 percent cut of every school's fund reserves, among other
measures.

The United Teachers of Dade, the local teachers' union, filed a
lawsuit last month alleging unfair labor practices and challenging the
constitutionality of the state law that allows school systems to break
contracts because of financial emergencies.

—Rhea R. Borja

Cairo, Ill., Schools End Year Despite Time Lost to Strike

The school year ended last week in Cairo, Ill., without students
making up the 17 instructional days lost during a teachers' strike last
month.

Rather than extend the school year, the board of education decided
to close schools as scheduled on May 29. The decision cost the
980-student district approximately $400,000 in lost state aid, because
it did not offer enough days to qualify for the money.

Ron Newell, the president of the Cairo Association of Teachers, said
the district's 71 teachers will lose between $2,500 and $5,000 each in
salary and benefits for the missed days, depending on experience.

Superintendent Robert Isom said summer school will start on June
10.

—Ann Bradley

Death

Antonia Pantoja, the founder of the youth-advocacy group
Aspira and a champion of Puerto Rican children in the New York City
schools, died May 24 of cancer at age 80.

Ms. Pantoja, who had emigrated from her native Puerto Rico to the
city in the 1940s, established Aspira in 1961. The nonprofit
organization focuses on educational advancement, leadership
development, and cultural awareness for Latino youths.

Spurred by Ms. Pantoja's discontent with how schools were serving
Hispanic children, Aspira filed a federal lawsuit in 1972 calling for
the New York City schools to provide instruction in Spanish to children
with limited English skills. In 1974, a federal judge ruled in favor of
Aspira. The resulting consent decree, which requires the city's schools
to provide bilingual education, is still in effect.

Ms. Pantoja received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 from
President Clinton for her work in improving educational and economic
conditions for Puerto Ricans.

—Mary Ann Zehr

Vol. 21, Issue 39, Page 4

Published in Print: June 5, 2002, as News in Brief: A National Roundup

Notice: We recently upgraded our comments. (Learn more here.) If you are logged in as a subscriber or registered user and already have a Display Name on edweek.org, you can post comments. If you do not already have a Display Name, please create one here.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.